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Toyota Dealer Speaks Out, “The Stop Sale On the Toyota Grand Highlander Was Tough On Our Customers, Some Moved On To Other Vehicles and Some Waited It Out”

Is the Toyota Grand Highlander available? The stop-sale has been lifted, production has restarted, and the 2025 models have arrived. Is it safe for customers to buy the SUV, and has Toyota fixed the problem? An interview with a dealer reveals more details

Are you waiting for the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander?

The Toyota Grand Highlander, which has a stop sale, was a significant disruption for Toyota dealers. 

According to a report from Automotive News, Russ Humberston Jr. is just taking over as chair of the Toyota National Dealer Advisory Council, and he's already in the thick of some of the industry's and the brand's most significant concerns. 

Humberston, who owns two Toyota stores — Beaverton Toyota and Albany Toyota near Portland, OR, spoke with Automotive News staff reporter Larry P. Vellequette. Here are edited excerpts when asked about the Toyota Grand Highlander stop sale.

The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Recall: What customers need to know.

In September 2024, Toyota issued a recall notice for the Grand Highlander, and the model was taken off dealership floors for months while a fix was developed for a defective front curtain shield airbag. 

The NHTSA said the front curtain shield airbags did not remain fully inside the vehicle if they deployed when the front windows were rolled down. This led to Toyota issuing a stop sale notice to its dealerships in June 2024. 

Some 111,000 2024 Grand Highlander and Grand Highlander Hybrid produced between June 2023 and June 2024 were recalled. The issue was detected, and Toyota implemented a fix.

A Reddit commentor dgbrown said, It's no longer on stop sale. Production resumes on October 21. Most allocations are already reserved at dealers. And you'd be looking at a 2025, I've been told.

I checked the Toyota website, and the 2025 Grand Highlander and 2025 Grand Highlander Hybrid models are available nationwide.

When asked by Automotive News, "How did the Grand Highlander stop sale play out at your dealerships in terms of your customers?" Here was Russ Humberston Jr.'s reply.

"We all know how recalls go in general. On the one hand, I understand why they have to be done the way that they have to be done, according to the way NHTSA requires it, but that process inherently causes customer confusion and a lot of emotions." 

According to Humberston, "It's never a good customer experience when there's a stop-sale. The dealers, the manufacturers, they've all gotten better. But there are times that the whole world knows about the recalls before the dealers even know." 

"Toyota had approached the dealer council to give us a heads-up that this might be coming, so kudos to Toyota for doing that."

"In general, it was done as well as it could be, but it was still really frustrating for our customers. Grand Highlander is one of our most popular vehicles — it was a Toyota in that large SUV segment." 

"We never had a lot of availability of them, but if we could have gotten them, they could have been our number two selling vehicle, behind RAV4. It was extremely popular, so it was tough on our customers and tough on our salespeople. We did have some customers move on to other vehicles, and we had some that waited it out."

"It's one of the great benefits of being a Toyota dealer, the depth and breadth of the product, so even when we didn't have Grand Highlander, we still had other products for customers to consider purchasing," he concluded.

What about the Grand Highlander's IIHS crash test rating?

A recent Reddit user said this about the Grand Highlander's IIHS crash scores. This customer was ready to buy the Grand Highlander until they saw the IIHS scores. 

"My wife and I recently test-drove the Grand Highlander Hybrid Limited and were more than impressed. We test-drove multiple other mid-size SUVs, including the Grand Cherokee L, Hyundai Palisade, and Kia Telluride, and the Grand Highlander is in a league of its own.” 

“The exterior design, interior features (heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, wireless phone charging), ride quality, noise-reducing glass, 34 MPG, and 600+ mile range all exceeded our expectations. And the fact that Toyota's hybrid powertrain is considered the most reliable and long-lasting was huge – whether we drive it for 200K+ miles or sell it in 3 years, it'll retain its value compared to other mid-sized SUVs. We were genuinely excited to hand over $55-60K for the privilege of driving this vehicle every day."

"However, after seeing the Grand Highlander's IIHS crash test rating, our enthusiasm vanished. While we understand that IIHS is regularly updating their test criteria (moving the goal post), and this vehicle is undoubtedly safer than anything from a decade ago, failing to achieve a "Good" rating in a small overlap crash test was a deal-breaker." 

"Mid-size SUVs are marketed as family vehicles, and anything short of a perfect score (in the crash tests) should give you pause. I really hope Toyota can address these issues with the 2025 model and achieve an IIHS Top Safety Pick. This vehicle is damn near perfect and has the potential to become one of the most popular mid-size SUVs on the road."

Has the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander improved its IIHS safety rating?

The 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander has the same score as the 2024 model year and did not achieve an IIHS Top Safety Pick

Conclusion.

For those considering the Toyota Grand Highlander, it's back in production, the defective airbag has been fixed, and Toyota dealers have models in inventory. However, the SUV underperforms in the latest IIHS crash scores. Will it keep buyers away?  

It's Your Turn.

Are you looking to purchase a 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, and will its safety rating affect your decision? If so, click the red Add New Comment link below and let us know.

Check out my Toyota Grand Highlander story titled; I Bought a 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander, It’s a $60,000 Car, and My Navigation Doesn’t Work, Now Toyota Says I Have To Pay More For Their App For It To Work

I am Denis Flierl, a Senior Torque News Reporter since 2012. My 30+ year tenure in the automotive industry, initially in a consulting role with every major car brand and later as a freelance journalist test-driving new vehicles, has equipped me with a wealth of knowledge. I specialize in reporting the latest automotive news and providing expert analysis on Subaru, which you'll find here, ensuring that you, as a reader, are always well-informed and up-to-date. Follow me on my X SubaruReportAll Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierlFacebook, and Instagram.

Photo credit: Denis Flierl via Toyota 

Comments

Jane (not verified)    January 25, 2025 - 1:03AM

I had a 2006 Highlander for 10 years. Now driving a 2016 RAV4, but it is too small for my grandchildren to all fit in, so was planning to look at the Grand Highlander, but the crash safety is a concern.

Kenneth (not verified)    January 25, 2025 - 4:03PM

I am waiting for the grand highlander having used the 2009 highlander for 11years now. I trust my toyota no Matter what.

Rick (not verified)    January 25, 2025 - 8:13PM

as long as you can only get a 4 cylinder, will move to Acura, reluctantly. get rid of turbo, hybrid, only, give us options, v-6 is the correct engine for this vehicle.
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Zach (not verified)    January 26, 2025 - 12:19AM

We had our grand highlander hybrid picked out in January 2024. It was to be my wife's first brand new car. We waited until late June 2024, almost 7 months to take delivery. Finally got notice ours was built...on the train to Denver...then the stop sale got two days before they could take delivery, clean and deliver to us. Dealership told us the car has to stay at the railyard for however long it took for the stop sale to be over. We were NOT paying $60k for a brand new vehicle that was going to sit in the Colorado sun, hail, weather, etc until who knows when without car wash, without the car being driven or even started for that matter. No discounts were offered other than hey we can sell you a minivan instead .. thanks but no thanks! We moved into a different vehicle and brand. I was actually in the market for a commuter car as well myself as someone totaled my civic. Was shopping Toyota, but they couldn't get anything in stock for me to even test drive let alone buy (no Corolla hybrid, no Prius as they were on stop sale, no Camry hybrid or new 25 Camry, etc). We went from spending ~100-110k on new Toyotas to $0. Asked for our GH deposit back and never looked back. Honestly don't know if I would even waste my time looking at a Toyota again.

Jim Battan (not verified)    January 26, 2025 - 1:06AM

I'm buying the Lexus equivalent plug-in hybrid, the TX550h+. But the dealer is only getting one or two at a time, so there's quite a wait.